DC ROBOTICS
specialreport
Robot
revolution
Twenty years ago, Frito-Lay relied on workers to hand stack cases
of chips, nuts, and cookies in its trucks. Now, it has more
colorful loading options, including the “T. Rex” and robots.
FOR MANY COMPANIES, TRUCK LOADING
and unloading is one of the last frontiers of
automation.
Consider the case of Frito-Lay. By the mid-
90s, the snack food giant had long since automated operations inside its distribution centers. But when it came to loading trucks, the
company still relied on manual processes, with
workers spending their days inside trailers
hand stacking cases of chips, nuts, cookies,
crackers, and meats.
As for what was holding it back, Frito-Lay
didn’t feel it had much choice. Its loading
requirements are somewhat out of the ordinary: Because cases of snack foods are relatively light—about five to seven pounds
each—trailers tend to cube out before they
weigh out. Although there were loading systems on the market, there was nothing available at the time that could match hand loading when it came to ensuring that every inch
Eventually, Frito-Lay decided to take things
into its own hands. Working with a partner, it
developed a semiautomated solution that
includes a conveyor with a series of “arms” that
lob cases onto a stack. Some 10 years later, the
two partners took the technology to the next
level, devising a fully automated loading solution that uses robots guided by sensors.
Today, half of Frito-Lay’s distribution centers use one of the two solutions, with 15 semiautomated solutions in use at five sites and 10
fully automated solutions at four others. The
result? Significant gains in productivity and a
raft of ergonomic benefits.
REPLICATING THE TOSS
What sent Frito-Lay down this path was a need
to boost productivity. The traditional labor-intensive process was becoming less and less
appealing as volume ramped up—the compa-
